Nepal EC publishes election schedule, Jan 20 date to file nomination

The Election Commission of Nepal on Sunday published the schedule for the parliamentary election to be held in March.

The candidates will have to file nomination for the election to the House of Representatives from 10 am to 6 pm on January 20, according to a notice published by the Election Commission.

The list of the candidates will be published on the same day after 5 pm. The time for registering protest against any candidate is fixed from 10 am till 3 pm on January 21.

The verified list of candidates will be published the next day.

Those wishing to withdraw their candidacy can do so till 1 pm on January 23. The final list of candidates will then be published on the same day within 3 pm and the election symbol will be officially allotted to the candidates.

The election will be held on March 5. The voting will start at 7 am and end at 5 pm, according to the Election Commission.

As per the Nepalese constitution, 165 members of the House of Representatives are elected through first past the post procedure or direct method.

The remaining 110 members are elected on the basis of proportionate voting. The total number of seats is 275.

The elections have been necessitated following the ouster of prime minister K P Sharma Oli on September 9 after demonstrations by Gen Z protesting corruption and demanding lifting of a ban on social media turned violent leading to the death of 76 people in two days.

Sushila Karki took oath on September 12 as prime minister of an interim government.